Israel strikes across Lebanon after ship hit

Four more civilians have been killed in the latest bout of Israeli strikes across Lebanon after Hezbollah rockets badly damaged a warship.

15 Jul 2006 10:34 GMT

Hezbollah rockets strike an Israeli warship

Police said three people were killed on Saturday when missiles struck near a bridge on the Assi river on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Hermel on the border with Syria.

Aljazeera reported an Iraqi worker was killed after an explosion at a fuel station near the southern coastal city of Sidon close to the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain Al-Helweh.

Israel is attacking Lebanon's infrastructure and fuel stations, and about 30 bridges have been at least partly damaged.

Four more stikes destroyed a bridge linking al-Nabatiya to the town of al-Saksakiya.

Israeli warplanes also struck an abandoned shooting range in the suburbs of the northern Lebanese coastal city of Tripoli on Saturday, the most northern strike by Israel so far.

Increase in casualties

Nine members of two families, including three children, were wounded when two missiles destroyed a house where they had sought refuge in Jbal al-Botm, southeast of the southern port of Tyre.

Residents point at Israeli aircraftin southern Beirut

Farther south, Israeli warplanes staged two raids on hills in Msaylih, near the residence of the Shia parliament speaker, police said. The area has been hit three times since Wednesday.

A total of 70 civilians have been killed and 207 wounded since Israel started the onslaught after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others at the border on Wednesday.

Rockets hit Israeli towns

The Israeli military said a dozen rockets were fired into northern Israel at dawn Saturday, in the third straight day of a rocket blitz.

Rockets struck several towns, including the coastal resort of Nahariya, but caused no casualties or damage, a military source told AFP.

Avi Hatuel inspects his house in Safed after a rocket hit

Two Israeli civilians, an elderly woman and her five-year-old grandson, were killed on Friday in the deadliest rocket attack in three days, taking the Israeli civilian toll to four.

More than 40 people were taken to hospital on Friday, three in serious condition, as about 90 rockets rained down on about 15 northern Israeli towns.

Ship hit

The Israeli army said early on Saturday that a missile fired at a naval vessel off Lebanon hit a civilian boat, possibly from Egypt.

A spokeswoman said those on board were believed to have been evacuated, but it was unknown whether there were any casualties.

After initially saying the missile had been fired at the Israeli vessel in a new strike early on Saturday, the spokeswoman said it might have been part of the same attack late on Friday that damaged the Israeli warship.